Lancaster Insurance Pride of Ownership finalists 2024

Arguably one of the more stylish British cars of the 1950s, it’s a model that Roy is familiar with having owned them for many years. This gorgeous example was sold to him by a friend back in 2004.

“The car was found in a garage in Stockport, Manchester where it had been for 23 years and it had covered just 16,000 miles. A dealer bought it, ran it for a year, and then it was bought by my friend who spent a lot of money on work including a bare-metal respray.”

It won’t come as a surprise that it went on to win plenty of awards in Roy’s ownership but after 15 years he says that the paintwork was beginning to show signs of micro-blistering. So another complete re-paint beckoned, but despite agreeing a timescale of 6 months he didn’t actually get the Vauxhall back for a couple of years.

It was 2022 when the car finally returned from the painters, at which point it underwent a thorough recommissioning. Having been laid-up for the best part of three years it was treated to a thorough overhaul of the brakes, that work including new shoes, wheel cylinders and master cylinder.

That wasn’t all as the stylish Cresta was also fitted with a new starter motor and dynamo and the engine bay was carefully detailed. “It had still only covered 33,000 miles and was now back to her concours best.”

There’s another touching addition to the story, though. The owner explains that back in 2016 the original lady owner had died and her family asked him to drive the car as part of the funeral procession. It’s just a further part of the history for this British classic, one that’s certainly cherished by its proud owner.